As a vegan who tries (effort reduces considerably depending upon levels of chocolate craving and hunger levels) to eat locally grown and organic foods I spend considerable time thinking about the environmental impact of what I eat. Were organic methods really used? Was it grown on a small farm or one of those seemingly endless farms in the Midwest? Was irrigation used? Does the farmer use responsible crop rotation? How much petroleum or other fossil fuels were used to produce it and bring it from the farm to my fork? And why on earth is it wrapped in fifty yards of plastic? Why do I have to choose between 'conventionally' grown local foods and organic foods grown by a corporation in California? Should I really be buying fruit in the middle of winter? What would happen to my health if I did not? Wouldn't it be better to grow it in a greenhouse than ship it in from Chile or New Zealand, or would heating the greenhouse all winter use more fossil fuels than having it shipped?
As I have been sick recently, I have been subsisting mostly on crackers, watered down juice boxes, and the occasional cup of tea. Which is worse? Is it the crackers, produced by the dreaded "Kraft Foods Global, inc," with no hint as to where they were made, and of course with an extra dash of high fructose corn syrup? Is it the organic green tea, grown on Chinese "tea estates?" Or is the juice, produced by Apple & Eve LLC, and masquerading as 100% juice, when it has added citric acid and natural flavor? And the final question, and the most important of all, I would think, is the following. Does what I consume make any difference if the current global system of food productions remains unchanged?
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